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Xavier Prep alumni will meet Saturday to discuss strategies for keeping school open

xavier-prep-1915-380.jpg

In 1915 Mother Katharine Drexel (now St. Katharine) of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament acquired this imposing structure on Magazine Street. Here she established a school for African-American youngsters from the seventh grade through high school that ultimately became Xavier University Preparatory High School.
(Photo by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archive)

Alumni from Xavier University Preparatory School, a predominantly African American high school for girls in Uptown New Orleans, will gather this Saturday to brainstorm strategies for keeping the campus open.

Organizers said they were blindsided by the news on Wednesday that the Xavier Prep's owners, a Catholic order known as the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, will close the school's doors after this academic year.

"This is devastating," said Kimberly Dilosa, a 1992 Xavier Prep graduate who is organizing the discussion. "I got physically ill last night. I got nauseous. I threw up. I cried."

The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday at Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower 9th Ward.

The
Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament put out a statement Wednesday saying
the school "does not have a financially sustainable future," but offered
few other details.

Sandra Schmidt, a member of the group's leadership
team, said the order is not ready to comment beyond that statement.

Meanwhile, Dilosa said alumni and parents feel the need to try to save the storied institution.